North Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

North Korea - Essay Example According to estimates by The United States Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of North Korea is 24.8 Billion U.S. Dollars which works out to a Per capita GDP of approximately $1,800. However it I expressly stated that these are merely estimates based on incomplete data. With this incomplete data in hand one can draw a few conclusions. Firstly the economy has trades primarily in raw materials such as mining products, agriculture and fisheries. Secondly the company spends a tremendous amount of money on military expenditures which not only is a direct draw on state financial resources (Which could also be directed towards economic development) but it also removes a significant number of people who could spend their time performing more economically valuable activities. According to Hardin (2009) over the last decade there was a small influx of private enterprise within the country which ultimately ended up employing about half of the working popu lation. However, the article went on to argue that the government implemented policies that greatly restricted the freedoms of these markets because of a perceived lack of control over these forces. It was argued by Sang-Hun (2009) that this specific action represents a kind of ‘shock therapy’ to crack down on black market trading that undermines the control of the government.